'Tis the Season for Online Customer Conversions
Published 11/10/2008
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Summary
While consumers may still be eating their way through leftover Halloween candy and the Thanksgiving turkey has yet to make its way to the oven, the online shopping season has already begun.
In its survey, 2007 Holiday Online Retail Buying Trends, digital marketer Oneupweb evaluated the actions of more than 1 million shoppers. The study revealed that traffic at e-commerce sites hit a spike right after Election Day in 2007, and had a 70% jump in customer conversions a week before Thanksgiving.
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While consumers may still be eating their way through leftover Halloween candy and the Thanksgiving turkey has yet to make its way to the oven, the online shopping season has already begun.
In its survey, 2007 Holiday Online Retail Buying Trends, digital marketer Oneupweb evaluated the actions of more than 1 million shoppers. The study revealed that traffic at e-commerce sites hit a spike right after Election Day in 2007, and had a 70% jump in customer conversions a week before Thanksgiving.
And traffic and conversion rates were lower as both Black Friday and Cyber Monday hit, according to the survey. It also showed that even though the week of Dec. 10 to Dec. 16, 2007 was the highest week of conversions, it wasn’t the greatest week for traffic.
"We found that while consumers begin their holiday shopping around Halloween, sales actually hit their peak in 2007 one week before Christmas," says Oneupweb Founder and CEO Lisa Wehr. "This late-season peak could be more prominent in 2008 due to the recent economic downturn, making it even more important that e-commerce retailers be ready for the long haul."
"What this information reaffirms is that the online landscape changes rapidly according to economic sentiment and current events," explains Wehr. "Those retailers that will be successful in 2008 will be pro-active, starting their online marketing campaigns early and following through with time-sensitive sales and continuous communication such as e-mail and social media marketing."
Indeed, declining economic conditions may not equate to less online traffic and sales. A recent JupiterResearch survey affirms that U.S. online retail sales are expected to increase 12%. An anticipated 8% additional wallet shift by existing online buyers coupled with a 4% growth by new Web buyers will help drive the increased sales.
Consumers are expected to be rewarded with more free shipping promotions. According to the Jupiter survey, 51% of online holiday buyers and 33% of overall Web users indicated that free-shipping offers motivate them to buy online during the holiday season.
To prepare for these trends, many retailers are opting to renegotiate terms with shipping providers, improve search and enhance the overall online purchasing process for consumers with such features as customer ratings and reviews and online product videos.